School for Overweight Teens

Help for Overweight Teens residential school program for overweight teens comes with a hefty price tag (some in excess of $5,000 per month). These programs rely on the same formula for weight loss as is commonly recommended; strict eating guidelines and increased activities. In other words, better nutrition and exercise.

Hopefully some counseling is offered, and college prep courses are usually on the curriculum, but what about those kids?

Are they getting a realistic head-start on a lifetime of healthier habits or are they simply doing what they are told, only to be fed to the wolves when they leave the safe environment of the school? tried to find stories of teens who had successfully completed these programs and gone on to healthy lives, and came up empty.

If you are one or know of someone who's been through one of these live-in school/weight loss programs, please drop me a line. I'd love to hear a success story. If you want to be everything you can for your kids, here are ideas for getting them (and you) up and moving again.

Exercise Should be Fun
Get your child interested in some type of exercise activity, whether indoor or outdoor by helping them discover what they prefer to do.

What about bike riding or hiking with a GPS (hand-held Global Positioning Satellite unit). If you like the outdoors, Geocaching sounds like enormous fun and anyone can do it.

Adults are reporting losing 20, 30 or more pounds while they are out exploring the woods and hills in their surrounding area. Learning to use a GPS is also educational and helps kids learn math, science and physics while they're losing some pounds at the same time.

You may find some Geocaching sites in your area. I searched on the Internet and discovered there was a Geocache not 200 yards from my house!
 

What's a Geocache? It's a "treasure" of sorts. One person puts a small package or box somewhere, out of sight, then lists the location via GPS. Using a GPS device you look for and attempt to locate the caches.

Once you find one you may leave a note or mark that you were there, and then you return the cache to its hiding place for the next person to find. It's not about taking the cache, it's about locating it.

Get your kids to a martial arts class, if they are at all interested. Martial arts teaches kids discipline, respect for authority and builds their self esteem and confidence, plus it teaches self defense. Frankly, I'm starting to think about taking some type of martial arts myself.

Perhaps Tai Chi or some other gentle movement practice. Any activity you find for your kids may also turn into your favorite activity as well, and what if you could do it with your kids? That can be the best of all.

Talk to your kids/teens to discover what activities they may be interested in, and explore the options together. My son is a good example. He was never over weight but at around 13-years old his skin tone was flabby. He didn't go outside much, preferring to play Nintendo or watch TV, and since he was an excellent student, I didn't push him to go outside more often.

Luckily neighborhood kids/teens invited him to play football one day, and today five years later he's in excellent physical shape, has confidence a mile high, and he was just honored by winning the "Program Award" which the coach explained is granted to the one player he'd choose, "If I had to pick just one as the most outstanding overall." I have no worries that he'll continue with a healthier lifestyle from this point forward.

Before he took up football we bought him an expensive bike which was rarely used. He also has a skate board, a mini-scooter, and a pogo stick.

We tried karate (he broke his wrist so had to quit, and then didn't want to resume), he likes Paintball. Sometimes it takes awhile to find the right thing but nearly everyone will feel better when they find a physical activity they like. Exercise isn't just sit ups and push ups. It's anything you do that includes movement.

No matter where you live get out the phone book and search for indoor and outdoor activities in your town, or use the Internet and search for "indoor sports" along with your city's name.

I found listings for Vancouver Parks & Recreation, Vancouver Indoor Sports and a site on Sports Walking with a search for "indoor sports Vancouver Washington" (without the quotes). (Read Teen Weight Loss).

-By Kathryn Martyn, M.NLP-